Last year, two papers, one by Hunt and Lipo and the other by Britton Shepardson of the University of Hawaii gave the first thorough analyses of Rapa Nui’s networks of prehistoric paths. The researchers think the islanders used these paths to move their statues across the island from the central quarry at Rano Raraku (see Map). Hunt and Lipo suggest the roads were built at different times by different groups of people. There is no evidence of an “interstate system”, but rather a number of separate roads. “We suggest this indicates smaller groups working on their own,” says Hunt – perhaps different kin groups rather than workers operating under the control of a single authority.